Mind Games
by suburbantimewaster
Summary: For Lt. Candy Richardson, life is just a series of distractions. The more challenging, the better. When she comes to Deep Space Nine, it not only has plenty of distractions but comes with a complicated puzzle in the form of Elim Garak. Can she play his game, or will he be the one puzzle she could never solve?


A/N: Here's my second Sue story that won't leave my brain. If you recognize it from any Star Trek series, I don't own it. Yes, my OC is a ripoff of Sherlock from the BBC series but I'll try to separate the two as much as possible. Also, this is not going to be a my OC solves everything two minutes after the episode begins and everyone praises her for it. Yes, I gave Candy deduction powers but that doesn't mean she's going to solve everything in the blink of an eye.

* * *

><p>Lt. Candace Richardson arrived on Deep Space Nine through the circular door carrying luggage and ready to head to the habitat ring. The station had a unique architecture with circular hallways, little to no lighting and beams all over the place with the second floor of the Promenade directly above. If the little bit of lighting didn't indicate that it was a Cardassian station, the intense heat did the job perfectly. Candy's pale round face glistened with sweat and it made her chestnut brown hair tied into a high ponytail damp. Her golden starfleet uniform was definitely not helping matters. Still, this was her new assignment and she was ready to unpack. Looking around at the cracked glass and piles of rubble on the floor, it definitely wasn't the most glamorous of assignments. Not many officers would be proud to say that they were assigned to a run-down station in the middle of nowhere that was the center of a 50-year-old conflict between two races. Then again, Candy wasn't most officers. On the way to the habitat ring, she ran into an old friend that she was assigned as a roommate, Christopher Patel.<p>

"Hey, Chris," Candy said with a smile. "Long time no see."

"Candy?!" Chris said, brimming with ecstasy. "I can't believe it's you! Do you still go by Candy?!"

"Yes, do you still go by Chris?" Candy asked, still smiling.

Chris dropped his luggage and hugged Candy in a tight embrace. Candy froze and then slowly dropped the luggage, hugging Chris back and then immediately pulling out.

"Sorry, Chris, really not a touchy feely kind of girl," Candy said, a little flustered. "Just so you know, whoever you were crying over, he's not worth it."

"What are you talking about?" Chris asked, confused.

"I'm talking about your breakup," Candy said, absentmindedly picking up her luggage.

"How did you know about that?" Chris said, standing in the middle of the hallway stupefied.

"Simple, there was tinge of red in your eyes and you were way too happy to see me," Candy explained. "Are you going to pick up your bags? You look stupid standing there out in the hallway."

"You've certainly changed," Chris muttered under his breath as he picked up his bags. "My boyfriend and I were getting different assignments and we thought we'd just break up rather than trying to keep it long distance. It's hard getting over a relationship."

"That's why I don't have them," Candy said with a smug smile as they started walking through the hallway.

It didn't surprise Candy that Chris had a boyfriend before coming here. With Chris's slightly messy leather black hair, slightly tan boyish oval shaped face with a little bit of facial hair and almond shaped chocolate brown eyes topped with a tight blue uniform that showed a little of his athletic build, Chris would be considered attractive but Candy didn't think of him that way. She supposed it was because they've known each other since preschool.

"So, I heard you were assigned to the U.S.S. Enterprise," Chris asked, clearly desperate for a change of subject. "What was that like?"

"In a word, awful."

Chris turned his head to Candy with disbelief.

"You had an assignment on the Federation flagship and you think it's awful?" Chris asked.

Candy gave an exasperated sigh.

"It was boring," Candy explained. "Everyone was all sunshine and roses with very few exceptions. You always knew who the good guys and the bad guys were. All they did for fun was play poker and I have no idea what they were gambling with because we don't use money. The only truly exciting thing that happened was that you never knew when the holodecks were going to crap out on you."

"You're calling holodeck malfunctions exciting?" Chris asked in the same disbelieving tone as before.

"Yeah, it was the one thing about the ship that was completely unexpected," Candy said with a smile on her face that disappeared when she said the next thing. "Other than that, it was the same old simplistic bullshit over and over again. Not really my scene."

"Did you at least make an effort to fit in?" Chris said, looking at the pendant made from a 20th century American coin Candy wore around her neck. "I mean, your necklace is against uniform code."

Candy rolled her eyes.

"You sound like Commander Riker," Candy remarked. "Always talking about how I need an attitude adjustment and conform to regulations. So I ask him why I'm not allowed to wear my pendant and the ship's counselor can walk around with an exposed cleavage."

"You said that to him?" Chris asked in disbelief as he opened the door to their room.

"Just being honest,"

"Well, here we are."

Their room was simple with a white couch, white walls and three adjoining bedrooms. The first bedroom they looked in was a simple mattress on the floor with a few metal cabinets filled with datapads and a few light spots indicating where artwork used to be hung. The second room had a Bajoran mattress with pictures of Bajoran artwork and decorated with various candles. The third room was empty save for a few stains of blood and a pole built into the wall.

"What kind of person was this guy?" Chris asked.

"I can tell you that he brought Bajoran women to his room, gave them a false sense of security and then tortured them for both pleasure and research purposes. He also enjoys Cardassian artwork, Cardassian classical music and writes in his spare time," Candy explained.

"How did you know all that?!" Chris asked, astonished.

"Simple, the silhouettes on the wall indicate old fashioned torture devices that were hung on the pole," Candy began and then moved to the room with Bajoran decorations as Chris followed. "He went to all the trouble of decorating it for Bajoran visitors so they'd feel safe. When you trust someone, you spill your deepest darkest secrets to them. Since all the Bajoran stuff is still here, he clearly didn't care for it." Then Candy moved to the room formerly occupied by the Cardassian with Chris following her. "He made sure to take all his Cardassian artwork with him and he left behind a manuscript, showing that he was in a hurry, and torturers like to listen to classical music. Don't know why."

Candy had the computer play a selection from the music banks to prove her point and then set her bags on the floor.

"This room's mine," Candy declared.

"Sure you don't want to ask Commander Sisko for a room change?" Chris asked warily.

Candy scoffed.

"You want to find a room on this station where someone hasn't been murdered?" Candy asked sarcastically. "Good luck."

Then Candy picked up the manuscript and leafed through it.

"Looks like he chronicled each and every one of his victims," Candy said smiling. "A Cardassian Marquis de Sade, who knew?"

"Apparently, you did," Chris said confused.

"I wouldn't have known before walking in the room," Candy said, putting the manuscript on the nightstand and making a mental note to read it later.

"Okay, are you genetically enhanced?" Chris asked.

"Yes, Chris, I went through illegal genetic experiments and show off at every opportunity so I can get myself kicked out of Starfleet," Candy said rolling her eyes.

"As for our living arrangements, you take the room Bajoran women used to occupy and I'll turn the torture room into a study," Candy told Chris as she got her music collection and added it to the computer's memory banks.

"You do what you want, I'm not going anywhere near a former torture room," Chris said, leaving Candy's room as the doors shut behind him.

"Computer, shuffle my playlist," Candy ordered.

The first song the computer played was Journey's Don't Stop Believing. Candy sang along as she unpacked, just stacking her stuff anywhere and dancing to the song. It would be a couple of hours before her shift started so Candy ordered the computer to let her know when she should report to the security chief.

* * *

><p>The heat wore Candy out much sooner than usual, so she laid down on the couch and read the manuscript. She was going to read on the mattress, but it felt like laying on a pile of rocks. Not all that surprising, considering it was a Cardassian mattress. She'd have to get a new bunk if she wanted to get any sleep on this station. Candy found herself lost in the manuscript until a beep pulled her back to reality.<p>

"This always happens when you get to the good part," Candy said as she put it down.

Candy took her flask and strapped it around her waist as she left her room and walked with Chris in the hallway, Chris on his way to the infirmary and Candy on her way to the security office.

"I have to say, our former occupant was a terrific writer!" Candy exclaimed. "He doesn't just write about the torture, he wrote about the lives his victims led before they met him! The guy talks about Cardassian superiority and values a little too much for my liking but, other than that, it was a good read."

"You do get that these people were actually tortured?" Chris asked, looking at Candy like she's gone insane.

"So were the people Marquis De Sade tortured, and people still read his work," Candy pointed out.

"Who's Marquis De Sade?" Chris asked.

"An 18th century French aristocrat who believed himself superior to the common people and was into some _really_ twisted things," Candy explained, putting her right hand out when she said really.

"That's different," Chris explained. "Marquis De Sade died centuries ago."

"So, because Marquis De Sade's victims were centuries before our time, it's okay to read his writings and find them intriguing," Candy said, putting her right hand on her hip. "Since these victims died recently, I'm not allowed to be intrigued by his writings."

"It's just not right," Chris said.

Eventually, they went their separate ways. Candy arrived at the security chief's office, a place decorated with gray walls save for green lights and a couple of blue computers in the wall. In the middle of the room was a desk with a computer built right into to it along with two chairs, one on the inside of the desk and one on the outside, and a bucket rested in the corner. A man with unusually sunken eyes, solid ears with only one hole in each, incredibly light hair that was brushed back and wore a dark brown uniform with light brown sleeves stood in the office with his arms folded and looked at Candy like he was a bird of prey studying a field mouse for any sign of weakness.

"You must be Constable Odo," Candy concluded. "I'm Lt. Candy Richardson from the Enterprise-D and I work in your field."

"Your necklace is against uniform code," Odo said matter of factly. "Take it off."

"Yeah, that's just not happening," Candy said as she leaned back on the desk and rested her hands on it.

"Get your hands off my desk this instant!" Odo barked at her.

"Okay, didn't realize touching the desk was a criminal offense," she said sarcastically while removing her hands from it. "And I thought Worf was a hardass."

"Do you serve a purpose or are you just here to irritate me?" Odo asked annoyed.

"Trust me, I serve a purpose," Candy said as she took the flask from her waist, pressed a button to see the top of it open and took a drink of the sour-tasting Saurian Brandy. "Besides, if I wanted to irritate you, I'd move your desk an inch."

Odo's eyes narrowed and his lips pressed into a thin line, if it was possible for them to get any thinner.

"You'll do no such thing!" he said to her. "What is that?!"

"It's a flask, you drink from it," Candy explained and held it out to Odo. "Want a sip?"

"I don't drink," Odo said.

"Your loss," Candy responded with a shrug. Her voice changed to a proud tone. " Anyway, you're very lucky to have me on this station. With my skills, I'd be a huge asset to any security team."

Odo scoffed. "My job is to keep order on Deep Space Nine," he said. "How could someone as chaotic as you possibly be any help in that?"

"I'll admit, I don't really care about order but I know you do," Candy said, taking a seat in the chair behind the desk.

Odo scoffed. "You don't know anything about me," he said.

"Judging by the office's lining, I can tell that you're obsessed with order to the point where you keep everything in the exact same place at all times," Candy put her feet up on the desk, leaned back in the chair and put her hands behind her head. "I also know that you used to work for the Cardassians because you feel right at home with this job. I can tell you that they never trusted you and you formed a relationship with the Bajorans, because they have no quarrel with you keeping your job. I can also tell you that you're the only one of your kind here because I know every Alpha Quadrant species and I've never seen anything like you until today."

"Save your skills for when a murder takes place," Odo told her. "And get your feet off of my desk!"

Before Candy could respond, they received a call from a Bajoran woman with crimson red hair.

"Yes, Major?" Odo answered.

"Odo, are you reading something at A14?" the Major asked.

"My security array has been down for two hours, I'll meet you there," Odo answered and then shut off the viewer turning to Candy. "Come with me."

Candy followed Odo to the Promenade to see a young Ferengi boy with an adult B'kaazi man stealing from the Promenade.

"All right, just stand where you are!" Odo ordered.

The Bajoran Major who called them earlier arrived along with the dark skin man in a red Starfleet uniform and three pips on his collar who Candy assumed was Commander Benjamin Sisko.

"Hold it!" the Major ordered.

The B'kaazi threw his mace at Odo who's head turned to liquid the minute the weapon made contact and passed right through. Candy grabbed the arm of the retreating Ferengi boy and pointed her phaser at his head.

"One move, and I'm dragging your unconscious body to a holding cell," Candy whispered to him.

"Let go of me, _female_," the boy practically hissed, saying female as if it was a derogatory term.

"This 'female' is holding a phaser to your head, so you better do as she says," Candy told the boy with only a hint of malice in her voice, but it was enough to make him obey.

Meanwhile, Odo chased the B'kaazi down and held him up against the wall. Sisko fired a phaser at the wall to get Odo and the B'kaazi's attention.

"That's enough!" Sisko barked.

Odo turned to face him. "Who the hell are you?" Odo demanded.

"Odo, this is our new Starfleet commander," the Major explained.

"So who does that make you?" Candy asked.

"Major Kira Nerys, first officer of Deep Space Nine."

Odo let go of the B'kaazi and approached Sisko.

"I don't allow weapons on the Promenade, that includes phasers," Odo said, glaring at the phasers Sisko and Candy were holding, which they immediately put away.

"Nog, what's going on?" a male voice said to the side of them.

Candy turned around to see an adult male Ferengi standing in the hallway.

"The boy's in a lot of trouble," Odo explained to the Ferengi as he grabbed the boy called Nog's other arm who looked frightened.

The Ferengi kept his attention on Sisko. "Commander, my name is Quark, I used to run the local gambling establishment," Quark explained as he turned his attention to Nog. "This is my brother's boy." Quark hissed at Nog who hissed back and then turned his attention back to Sisko. "Surely you can see that he only has a peripheral involvement in all this."

"If, by peripheral, you mean that you hired your nephew to steal the last of the ore samples so you can sell them when you leave the station then, yes, his involvement was very 'peripheral,'" Candy explained.

Quark nervously laughed. "I'm sorry Miss..."

"Lt. Candy Richardson, number two security officer on Deep Space 9."

"Lieutenant, you have quite an imagination but I assure you that it was nothing of the sort," Quark explained.

"Really?" Candy replied doubtfully. "You weren't the least bit shocked when you came in here and you seemed far more disappointed that Nog failed than you were that he was stealing. I can also tell you that Commander Sisko has second thoughts about running this station, he's a divorcee and he enjoys cooking and baseball. Major Kira is a former resistance fighter who despises the Federation's presence and-,"

"That's enough!" Major Kira yelled, cutting Candy off.

Candy was going to respond until she caught a tall and stocky Cardassian watching her out of the corner of her emerald green eyes. He gave her a sly smile, his ice blue eyes daring her to figure him out and, judging from his clothes, he was most definitely a civilian. Anything else about this man was a mystery to Candy.

"Lieutenant!" Odo's harsh voice said, interrupting her thoughts.

"What?" Candy asked, turning her attention back to Odo.

"You heard Commander Sisko, we're taking Nog to a holding cell," Odo ordered her.

"Right," Candy said, snapping back to reality.

As Candy left the Promenade with Odo keeping her hold on Nog, she turned to the direction of the Cardassian to see that he was gone.

* * *

><p>AN: So, what do you think? Yes, I'm well aware that Sisko's not divorced but Candy's deductions aren't going to be 100% all the time. Many lines came from the Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode, Emissary, and describing the station is an absolute nightmare. I just realized that I don't know where the rooms are located exactly and I don't know any of the science. If anyone wants to help me out with research, PM me a list. Oh, and I like Odo and Nog but the former's personality would clash with Candy's and Nog was misogynistic when he was first introduced. Who my OCs get along with is not based on what characters I like but on what characters I feel would clash with my OCs. Anyway, read and review and I can take constructive criticism. Oh, and Candy's last name was originally going to be Lockheart but I didn't think anyone would take her seriously if I went through with that.


End file.
